Should I complain about the newspaper carrier’s obnoxiously loud car?

January 10, 2018 4:13 PM

Every morning around 4 AM, the new newspaper carrier drives down our street delivering to the handful of people who still get the paper. The car is beyond loud. I think it’s missing a muffler maybe. Anyway, whenever he accelerates it’s loud and the sound carries. It wakes me up, it wakes my husband up. I can hear the car drive around the entire subdivision. And it’s so loud that I can go my bathroom, turn on the exhaust fan and still hear it.

I’m really tired of being woken up at 4. I don’t want to be a jerk by complaining but I don’t know what else to do. Is it a jerk move to complain to the paper? I’m not sure what they can do to fix it. I don’t want the guy fired but I don’t want to wake up at 4 AM every day either.

posted by bodgy to Society & Culture (29 answers total)

Yes, I would in a heartbeat.
posted by STFUDonnie at 4:17 PM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]

I'm all for complaining when called for, but as a former newspaper deliverer, I can tell you that it's one of those jobs one only takes as a last resort. Complaining to the newspaper could very well end up getting the person fired if s/he isn't able to fix their car due to financial limitations.

The muffler noise sounds super annoying, but if it were me, I wouldn't complain (unless I could somehow verify that the car had been modified to make it extra noisy on purpose). I'd just slip on some earplugs during a nighttime bathroom break or something.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 4:19 PM on January 10, 2018 [25 favorites]

I have to vote jerk move on this one. Anyone delivering papers at 4:00 AM isn't doing it for fun, and likely can't afford to get that problem fixed. The paper might fire them, and it's going to come across to that (probably) poor person as incredibly condescending and elitist.

This is all assuming it isn't some 19 year old that made his car loud on purpose, because reasons.

Crazy idea of the day: Take up a collection among the neighbors for a muffler store gift card to fix it. If you agree, say so here, MeMail me and I'll send you ten bucks. Seriously.
posted by cnc at 4:21 PM on January 10, 2018 [42 favorites]

Totally depends on whether the car is loud on purpose. If it's just a piece of shit, MeMail me and I'll chip in too. My husband delivered papers when we were first married.
posted by HotToddy at 4:26 PM on January 10, 2018 [14 favorites]

Newspaper delivery people are poor, and they are independent contractors, and they are financially charged and penalized for everything. Paper not on the top step? Redeliver and get fined.

I wouldn’t be too surprised if the newspaper company figured out some way to charge them a penalty for this.

It will make a lot of trouble for a poor person’s life.

The gift card is a great idea.
posted by littlewater at 4:27 PM on January 10, 2018 [12 favorites]

Getting a muffler fixed will probably cost the person $300.... a pretty attainable amount if the neighbours kindly chip in.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 4:34 PM on January 10, 2018 [3 favorites]

Crazy idea of the day: Take up a collection among the neighbors for a muffler store gift card to fix it. If you agree, say so here, MeMail me and I'll send you ten bucks. Seriously.

I'd chip in too, assuming it's not intentional. This person is probably broke and can't afford a better car or a fix.
posted by onecircleaday at 4:55 PM on January 10, 2018 [4 favorites]

To me, the sound of a car outside your home is just one of those things you have to deal with. Like, when I lived in the city, I heard sirens all the time. It was just the ambient noise of living in that location. On your street, the ambient noise includes a loud vehicle delivering newspapers at 4am. Figure out how to deal with it--white noise machine, earplugs, whatever.
posted by msbubbaclees at 4:55 PM on January 10, 2018 [7 favorites]

Another don't complain vote here. As above, newspaper delivery is really a last-resort and poorly paid job. I agree the collection is a great way to go. Maybe talk to the delivery person first, though, to be sure that's what's actually the problem.
posted by stillmoving at 5:00 PM on January 10, 2018 [5 favorites]

I would absolutely not just accept it. It is waking you up every day! If it were me, the value of the newspaper delivery would be enormously eclipsed by the annoyance of the car, and thus I wouldn't want the service. I agree that the kind thing to do would be to speak to the delivery person before making a complaint (and offering to pay for the fix would be way above and beyond), but I would certainly be willing to complain as well if that talk didn't resolve the problem relatively quickly. Businesses want feedback about their services so that they can continually improve those services and stay in business. If nobody provides feedback, and the annoyance of receiving the product exceeds the value of the product, the company goes under, and all jobs are lost.
posted by bigplugin at 5:02 PM on January 10, 2018 [10 favorites]

If the gift card does not fix the problem, then I would complain. Sleep is an enormously important part of basic human functioning, and it’s just not acceptable to wake up a neighborhood’s worth of people every single day when alternatives have been made available.
posted by delight at 5:08 PM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]

I also thought paying it forward and finding a way to get the guys car fixed was the way to go.

You could have him drop off the car at s trusted mechanic and pay the mechanic directly.
posted by jbenben at 5:08 PM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]

Crazy idea of the day: Take up a collection among the neighbors for a muffler store gift card to fix it.

Wow, best idea I’ve heard all day! Kudos, cnc. If this doesn’t seem like something you want to do, or if the driver won’t accept the offer, you still have a choice to make.

I vote don’t complain. When you escalate like this, you have to ask yourself what the most likely outcome is. I think it’s clear the most likely outcome is the delivery person getting fired. They don’t deserve that.

Presumably they know their car makes noise and they can’t afford to fix it— it’s not like the paper is going to say “hey, someone said your car is noisy” and they’ll say “thanks! I had no idea, I’ll use all this extra money to fix it.”

I have to push back against the idea that you’re entitled to a life free of noise. You live on a street with auto traffic, a big risk if auto traffic sounds disrupt your life. I’m an irritable person, garbage trucks wake me up, squeaking brakes wake me up, rumbly idling trucks wake me up, the goddamned construction across the street that’s a year over schedule wakes me the f up, so I get it. But my recourse is learning to deal with it.
posted by kapers at 5:54 PM on January 10, 2018 [8 favorites]

If it's just a piece of shit, MeMail me and I'll chip in too

Me too!
posted by arnicae at 6:16 PM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]

FFS no it is not your responsibility to buy the newspaper delivery person a new muffler and yes you deserve quiet enjoyment of your home in the middle of the night. I also would not drag my ass down to the street in the cold dark night and tell a stranger that his car was too loud and...what then? Ask him to turn it down? Call the paper and complain.
posted by tatiana wishbone at 6:31 PM on January 10, 2018 [20 favorites]

Another vote for FFS just call the newspaper and let them know that it’s waking you up.
posted by lakersfan1222 at 6:41 PM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]

Just chiming back in to say that losing sleep every single day is not just an inconvenience, it's a health issue.

I personally think it's unacceptable to make a racket when the majority of people in your environment are sleeping, unless you are experiencing a threat to your health and/or safety. So, sirens are obviously fine; calling for help if you're threatened is definitely fine.

Now, if this person does not have the means to fix their car, I think it would be a good idea to pitch in and help them fix it, since as others have mentioned, it's unlikely that this person has a lot of disposable income. It would fix the problem not just for you, but for that person as well -- win-win.

But if that doesn't work, then please remember that this situation is a health issue, not only for you, but for anyone else who is disturbed on a nightly basis. It would be one thing if it was only every now and then, but every night? Really? That can fuck with your health and your quality of life, and it's no small deal to regularly compromise your immune system, strain your cardiovascular system, and threaten your cognitive reserves.
posted by delight at 9:08 PM on January 10, 2018 [3 favorites]

Personally, I'd file this away as "it's a complicated world, and we're all in it together." I would absolutely not risk being the reason this person lost their gig. And I say that having been awakened by a lot of loud cars, booming music, and more, many nights in a row. I live in a loud neighborhood, and I'm just a resident; I don't try to control the aural environment.

If the situation is as bad as you say it is, then enough other people will call. If not, then you'd personally be the cause of them getting fired, and you've already said that that's not something you'd want to do.

So yeah, if it's really intolerable to you, I guess maybe you could try to manage the difficult interpersonal interaction of apologetically explaining that you can't sleep through things and would they let you buy them a muffler or something. (How to maximize the chances that that will go well is probably its own Ask.) If they strike you as an unrepentant jerk with plenty of money to do the right thing and nbd if they get fired, then you can call the paper with a clear conscience at that point.

But personally I'd just figure that this was going to pass soon enough. I am sympathetic to you. But I do think you risk being "that guy" (/gal) who gets some person fired while they're working three marginal jobs and really need the money to keep their kids fed.
posted by salvia at 10:12 PM on January 10, 2018

Crazy idea of the day

It sucks but get up one day at 3:30am and be out there to find out... is it a beater that needs a muffler or intentionally loud? What does the person say in reaction to your problem?

I feel like you need more data before deciding what to do with this.
posted by Meatbomb at 10:47 PM on January 10, 2018 [3 favorites]

Dude could deliver on a bicycle. Uncountable kids did it for decades, and probably still do. If his route has too many papers to carry in one load on a bike, he could drive the papers and bike to a central point and make multiple trips from there on the bike. His noisy exhaust should not be your problem to mitigate or endure.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:42 AM on January 11, 2018 [2 favorites]

Cars without muffler operate at a decibel level that can cause hearing loss after prolonged exposure (30 minutes) for the driver, so it’s unsurprising that it’s waking you up, and likely others. Figure out your next steps, but know you are not alone in your ordeal. Others may call.
posted by childofTethys at 4:12 AM on January 11, 2018 [2 favorites]

Dude could deliver on a bicycle.

Declining newspaper circulation means that subscribers' homes are much further apart than they were when a paper route was a feasible part-time job for a kid on a bike.
posted by virago at 4:20 AM on January 11, 2018 [19 favorites]

I doubt this will be a problem for long. In my observation, newspaper delivery drivers don't stick around in the job or on the same route for very long. I would get a white noise machine or use earplugs, with the idea that it will probably be a short-term problem.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 4:29 AM on January 11, 2018 [5 favorites]

If you are going to flag down this paper deliverer at 4 am while they are working, might as well do it with a bit class. Make a card with a small gift card in it, like some people do for mail delivers on Christmas. Give it to them and say "I meant to get this to you for Christmas. Oh, and by the way, the car noise is killing me. Is there anything that can be done about it ?" At this point, if you are better off that them (i am assuming its likely) you might offer to help/cover the cost if its a fix. In the least you can learn more about the problem, instead of just blindly punishing them.
posted by Oceanic Trench at 6:07 AM on January 11, 2018 [1 favorite]

I don’t want the guy fired
If this is truly the case, then don't complain.

but I don’t want to wake up at 4 AM every day either.
What have you tried so far? A lot of us live in noisy buildings/streets and might have suggestions on how to deal with this irritating fact of life. Maybe your next question can focus on techniques to mitigate these sorts of disruptions.

[Bonus pedantry: "quiet enjoyment" certainly does not not mean you have some kind of legal entitlement to keep your street free of cars with muffler problems, so avoid throwing that term around.]
posted by kapers at 6:49 AM on January 11, 2018 [10 favorites]

I don't think suggestions to get used to it or run a white noise machine or whatever are helpful here. bodgy mentions that she lives in a subdivision, which usually means quiet suburban neighborhood. If your place is quiet 23 hours a day, then there's an enormous racket for 30 minutes in the middle of the night, you are not going to get used to that, or be able to mask it with other noise. I have lived near a major city intersection and got used to the sirens and such, but that was a 24-hour phenomenon, not something like this.

kapers, I think you're mistaken about what quiet enjoyment certainly does not mean. Noisy exhausts are illegal most places, and quiet enjoyment is the reason.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:11 AM on January 11, 2018 [2 favorites]

Please don't complain, it's part of living amongst other people. I had a neighbor with a loud truck who left early for work every morning at 4:30am. He & his family eventually moved away, after I finally acclimated to it. Then another neighbor had a super-loud car who also left for work ~4:30am every weekday that would set off another neighbor's car alarm. The weekday early-morning car alarm wakeup eventually stopped - after I acclimated.
posted by honey badger at 9:07 AM on January 11, 2018 [2 favorites]

My paper delivery comes round at roughly 4:30 am, muffler is fine, but music BLARING. I would complain, but it's only 2 days a week. *rolls over, goes back to sleep, usually*
posted by Sister Assumpta at 5:54 PM on January 11, 2018

Absolutely you should complain. I would raise hell, first very politely and then more and more hellishly until I got my way.

How on earth would anybody consider it a jerk move to complain about being awakened every morning at 4 am?
posted by dbx at 6:48 PM on January 11, 2018 [1 favorite]